She slumped farther into her chair. Lenovik waved his hand. ‘In my opinion, I think it’s worth having a look at the Antiphonus in person.’

She nodded. Perhaps Kellan was on to something earlier. Was this the break they had been waiting for?

‘I will ask Saskia tomorrow,’ she said, already aching to make her way back to where Kellan was waiting for her outside.

‘Bethan, may I caution you?’

Her shoulders sagged; she was hesitant to hear what her old professor had to say.

‘Sometimes what we think is the concrete truth, is only the one they want us to believe.’

She leant against the doorframe. Craning her neck to hear more.

‘I worry that your sister knew something the rest of us didn’t.’

‘My sister’s death was an accident.’

Lenovik nodded. ‘I’m sure it was.’

***

Kellan leant against the red-bricked building by the front gate, staring at her. She raced towards him. She pondered if he could read minds as well as conjure fire from his palm, since he was able to detect her franticness.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, pushing himself from the wall.

She told him everything. She wasn’t able to carry it all on her own, to have it weigh down on her shoulders.

He bit back his lip to stop himself from saying something.

‘What?’ she snapped.

A smile erupted from his lips, and Bethan rolled her eyes.

‘I did say—’

She dismissed him; she didn’t want to be reminded of Kellan being right. ‘Let’s go home, and I’ll go through those boxes again.’

Snow had finally fallen in Malia, and a thick layer crunched underneath her feet. They fell into the rhythm of walking.

She led Kellan through the Student District. He had never been to that part of the city, and she didn’t want to take him between Hadwicke’s and the University District because it was filled with various bars and clubs. Kellan hasn’t had a sip of alcohol since that night he came over in the autumn. He admitted to her that he had a problem, and in those first few weeks without consumption, he was frustrating to deal with. He seemed to have mellowed out.

She took him to a shortcut in the Crow Quarter; the pair would have to pass through Little Sanhauk, a small sector within the Crow Quarter that contained various buildings supposedly inspired by the Sanhauk Territory within the Old Kingdom. Like everything, the Rennigan family had founded it as they descended from that territory. In fact, Sanhauk was the only territory from the Old Kingdom that was commemorated in Krete.

Bethan prepared to lead Kellan into the main square of Little Sanhauk, but when they turned, they were met with a large crowd. She stood on her toes and whispered to Kellan that they’d go into the quieter streets.

Kellan turned like an animal in the wild; those pointed ears could hear something she couldn’t.

‘Hurry,’ he said, grabbing her arm, moving her along the path; his strides grew longer.